Since then, the portfolio has grown to 143 hotels, including one Australian property, The Old Clare Hotel in Sydney’s Chippendale neighbourhood.

It’s worth discovering a bit more about Design Hotels in case your travels do take you near a partner property, and on the assumption that we will gain access to more of them as Starwood earn partners in the near future.

What are Design Hotels and their properties all about?

Each member hotel is carefully selected to cater to modern travellers searching for the unusual, the individual and the unexpected.

Design Hotels may not be a household name like other Starwood brands such as Sheraton but they do have a property portfolio worth getting to know.

Design Hotels have unique and luxury hotels around the world, with two-thirds (97) of all participating Design Hotels are located in Europe, with around 20 each in Asia and North America.

Not all Design Hotels are under in Starwood portfolio, as shown in the case of Australia, where only one of the four properties comes under SPG.

With this new partnership, Starwood have not added another run-of-the-mill chain experience, with the same coffee maker and nightstand pens regardless of whether you’re in San Francisco or Venice.

The new additions are individually-run and -operated, with each offering a unique and memorable experience. Design proudly advertise that of the 400 properties that apply for Design Hotel membership annually, only 5% are approved.

Many of these properties are in breathtaking locations, such as the Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel in Iceland. This geologist heaven features a ‘northern lights bar’ where guests can enjoy not only the northern lights but also a nearby partial lava flow.

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Who wrote this
guide?

Matt is a Content Producer for Point Hacks, joining the team in 2016. Originally from Sydney, he won the green card lottery and now bases himself in the US for half the year and abroad for the other half. His favourite destinations so far have been Japan, Iran, Colombia, Israel and South Africa, and his top flight experiences in Cathay Pacific First, SWISS Business and Singapore Airlines Economy Class.

That’s the Old Clare in Sydney! It just joined the SPG / Design Hotels Starwood program too. I have a stay there booked pretty soon so I’ll let you know how if I end up with the whole bath/bed combo! Maybe the bathroom is massive enough to have an extra bed…

Hotel Hotel would be a great addition to SPG (their Meandering Suites are very good!) – QT Sydney would be too, but I agree it’s unlikely due to their existing Rydges partnership.

While SPG late check out benefits generally are honoured without fuss, a lot of the hotel’s are less consistent on upgrades/preferred rooms (so that element not much of a loss with Design Hotels). I guess a small price to pay for some of the nicer Design hotels.

Still it’ll be interesting to see how Marriott, who bought Starwood, recently will affect both SPG and these new relationships.